Astral Legend: Altair's Ascent
by YummyCookies
Summary: After the tragedy of a bloody massacre, one boy must go on an adventure in search of answers and knowledge in order to save him and his friends. Witness the harsh realities and terrible truths he will be subjugated to on his adventure. On his way, he will come across new powers and meet new friends in order to reach a common goal: Freedom.
1. Lack of humbleness

"Am I the stupidest person alive? Why can't I do anything right? What the hell is wrong with me?"

Altair knew it. He had known it for a while, ever since he started attending school. The villagers made it obvious for him on numerous occasions, but he purposely acted ignorantly. Ignorant of all the backlash. He just wanted to fit in. As the days went by, these wants became so coveted to him. Altair felt like doing anything to succeed for once. As he scratched his short fluffy brown hair, he dug harder into his scalp. He closed his eyes and could feel warm tears coming as he let his head rest on the soft grass of the forest.

Perhaps one-day things could change. Instead of the usual duck waddling around the wetlands, a Great Blue Heron could instead take its place. Or maybe a large gusty wind could direct its current towards Lunos Village and for once bring a great breeze to the usual scorching heat. Unfortunately, this was just wishful thinking…

 _Find the proof for a homogeneous second-order linear ODE in the shortest steps possible._

Altair looked at the problem from different angles. Literally. He twisted the exam paper, creased the words with his fingers, and read the entire sentence over and over in his brain. When did we cover this? Why is this here? What significance did it have to his learning or his life for that matter? How could a question like this possibly help him in the future?

Altair looked around sheepishly and saw the same faces of frustration and confusion around the classroom.

"Eyes on your own paper everyone."

Altair looked up, and sure enough, he could see his teacher, grinning madly. Perhaps, this was just an oddball. A strange question the teacher purposely put on the test to mess with student's heads, as if they already aren't traumatized by all the other responsibilities for academics.

He twisted the paper over. There were several more questions, each longer than the last. There were so many words on the back page that required Altair's prowess at squinting to catch and process every detail. Suddenly, Altair's blue eyes flapped as open as they could, and he quickly turned the paper back to the front. He wrote his name down. As he quickly scribbled it down, he mouthed it to himself.

Altair Uwohali.

A name so different and unique from others in the village. He was always asked about it. Whether it had been an old friend, or a bully supplying ammo for the new school year. He had come up with so many explanations to explain his name, but in the end, had a hard time convincing himself. How could he explain something he had never known himself-

"Five minutes."

In a moment of panic, Altair's rate of breathing increased rapidly. Several classmates turned around and started laughing, and before the teacher could tell them to stop, she too joined in the laughter. The only person who did not share this collective enthusiasm was Altair himself. He was too busy trying to write as much as he could on the test, even if it was all complete nonsense. Formulas, numbers, triangles. Anything to get him some points. He had hoped writing his name would boost his score, and perhaps maybe everyone else would fail in the class too. That way, the teacher had to curve, and he could get a coveted D. Anything but an F.

As Altair passed in his paper, his teacher had a ghastly look on her face as he walked out. He looked around at his fellow peers, and eavesdropped nonchalantly. He heard the same whispers over and over.

"Oh man, that was a tough one. I don't think I'll get an A. Yeah, I totally failed. I may as well drop out now."

Altair silently hoped perhaps this time they actually meant it. They weren't just lying out loud so they could give suckers like him false hope. He hated when they did that. Acting as if they all did bad, only to ace the test and have spontaneous "realizations" about how smart they felt. As the classmates passed Altair, one of them asked him how it was.

Altair shyly looked away. "Well... I-I wouldn't say it was the easiest…"

The same student then chuckled. "Yeah, I agree. That was difficult. Easily the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. So how much do you think you got this time? 10%? 20%?"

Altair nervously laughed, and then looked around. Several students hovered around him, waiting for more. Hungry for more signs of weakness. Anything to boost the already exaggerated egos they had become accustomed to maintaining for years on end. He knew this and decided to purposely ignore it all.

"Ha… I don't know what I got, but I can say it wasn't good… anyways, I gotta get to my next class." Altair replied as he made a small smile. He walked further down the hallway for his next class. The kids behind him could no longer hold it and broke into hysterical laughter. He could hear them mimicking his earlier responses, in whiny high-pitched voices. He walked faster to his next class. As he sped up his pace, he could hear a single word uttered from one of his classmates. "Dumbass."

Surely, things would get better.

"Eyes open Altair, get your head in the game!"

Altair heard a scream from the coach, and then looked around. He could make out the soccer ball suddenly getting passed to him from a fellow teammate. As the soccer ball made its way around the field, Altair gasped for air as he ran to catch the ball with his feet. Everyone around him was running towards the same ball, and he started to worry he would not even get to touch the ball. Not that it was a new experience.

Altair ran as hard as he could toward the open ball. He had to get it, he was only a few feet away. All the other students were much faster and had better reflexes than he did. Still, Altair ignored the fear of failing to retrieve the ball and sprinted. Altair quickly manoeuvred around several players and finally reached the ball.

Relieved, he cheered in joy as he kicked the ball around and went for the opposing goal. As he started to turn around, his view started to become blocked by the sudden arrival of the other players. Altair quickly curved the ball and tried to softly kick the ball between their legs, but as soon as he tried to he felt a sharp jab as someone firmly placed their leg on his foot. Unfortunately, his small legs wiggled in agony and quickly gave in as he fell over into the grass of the outdoor field. He could hear laughter and whispers as he struggled to get up. As Altair stood up, he noticed the coach was too busy talking with his best players from another class. They were on the varsity team. Varsity. The kids who kicked him over were also on this varsity team too. The name reeked with pretentiousness the more Altair heard it. Perhaps it was the people who freely bragged about being on the varsity team that made him have that mental image whenever he heard the word "varsity".

Suddenly Altair felt pain in his left calf. He raised his skinny brown pants and observed it thoroughly. There didn't seem to be anything wrong, the usual soft and weak looking calf had not changed. But inside, it had felt a little sore. Altair did sometimes find it funny to stare at random body parts of himself, as they did compliment well with his skinny but terribly weak body. The students in the field who were watching Altair diagnose his calf in public started to laugh and point at him. Altair ignored this as he started to stretch.

Eventually, the coach walked over. Altair looked up and smiled cheerfully.

"Hey, coach. I'll be fine don't worry."

The coach then scratched his head. Finally, he let out a sigh and said, "that's good. I would hate for someone to get hurt during gym class. The thought of that-"

Across the glistening soccer field from the sun, several varsity players yelled to the coach. Neither Altair nor the coach could make out what they were saying.

"Oh boy, those boys need me for something. I must get to them right away. And you said you were fine right?"

Altair kept his smile and nodded. As the coach sprinted, Altair's smile started to weaken.

Altair's usual walk out of school was abruptly interrupted by his math teacher. As Altair looked behind him, he could see she had a very concerned look on his face as she called him from the other end of the hallway.

Altair started smiling again. "Hi there Mrs Jones."

As his teacher approached him, his smile instantly disappeared. Mrs Jones was unhappy. In fact, one might even say she was the most upset she had ever been in her career as a teacher.

"Altair, you failed the exam."

She uttered those words as if they were a death sentence. Quite a loud death sentence.

Kids nearby who were unloading their lockers peered into the conversation slowly, intent on listening to all the juicy information and ready to absorb it. Altair knew all too well what his classmates were doing. By listening in on this conversation, they would easily find out how he did on his test. From this, they could evaluate what his grade in the class was, and let every other interested student know so they could get a quick laugh in for the day.

"Ah, r-really Mrs Jones?"

It didn't help that Altair's stutter kicked in at the worst possible times. Not only were people going to eavesdrop on his test score, but they also were getting front row seats as his composure started to melt.

"Altair, you not only failed the exam, you were the lowest in the class!" Mrs Jones angrily yelled as she crinkled his exam in her hands. From a quick glance, Altair could see an "18%" written boldly across the exam paper. Altair smiled a little when he saw it. Better than last time.

Mrs Jones started to get even angrier at his expression, and for an odd reason did not pay any attention to any of the surrounding students.

"Do you think this is funny young man?"

"No mame, I'm just happy I did better than last time. Man, I knew those tutoring sessions with you helped me improve. I feel grateful for all I learned, thank you Mrs. Jones."

As Altair smiled, his expression slowly changed to a small frown.

"However, I am aware either way that's not really passing. Oh well. I'm pleased that I got the chance to give it my all. Next time I will have to revise my studying strategy a little more and-"

Mrs Jones's eyes widened so fast, her head moved in the motion, and her glasses moved off center off of the upper part of her nose. She had to grip the front part of the frame and gently reposition her eyewear. Then, she turned her attention back to Altair.

"There is no next time Altair. You're done. You failed the class."

No. He wasn't going to cry. Not this time. And what would be the point of doing that anyway? All he'd be doing is prove everyone right. That he really is a pathetic loser.

Altair raised his head off of the forest grass. He refused to give in to his emotions.

"Kenji always said crying's for pussies," Altair thought as he fitted his feet better in his dark brown moccasins.

He then sat back and watched the forest. Unlike the living, the forest never went to sleep. It was always alive, as sounds of drumming woodpeckers and scurrying rabbits were euphoric to Altair's ears. Badgers could be seen shambling about for food, and sometimes Altair could even spot them if he looked hard enough. Many animals, however, hid from any of the villagers.

The visual appeal of the forest's leaf-carpeted path and strong boughs that had housed many animals was very pleasing to Altair's sight, but what Altair fully enjoyed was the sky. During the day, Altair loved to gaze at the sky as he sat right in front of the forest. The clouds in the clear blue sky greatly complimented the conker-brown forest's contour and texture. It was almost as if the clouds were large puffy white petals. To Altair, these clouds felt like they were apart of the forest. Not only did they have some kind of familiarity with the forest, they had a certain.. allure. Altair felt inclined to walk into the gorgeous forest. Unfortunately, this was illegal for any villagers. Located off in the back of the village, the Forest was strictly off-limits, as it was the gateway to leaving Lunos Village. And no one was allowed to go that way unless they were authorized by the High Council.

Altair knew this, but today was different. He was already failing before, and now he finally managed to get kicked out of the class. Not only has no one ever been kicked out of Mrs Jones's class, but no one ever has been kicked out of Lunos Prep. At least to his knowledge.

"How will _she_ react…. Oh man," Altair whispered, as he started to feel tears come across his face again.

Suddenly, a splotch of bright orange had emerged on the forest trees. It was so obscure to his usual visual pleasures Altair experienced for years. He immediately wiped away the new tears from his radiant blue eyes and looked intently. He could make out a slim and long creature with a red coat and white underbelly. As Altair observed the animal frantically jump across trees, he shook his head in disbelief.

"I've never seen that," Altair said, inching closer towards the forest. "What is that…"

As he peered more into the forest, he heard leaves crackle. He instantly turned around and nervously peered at the intruder.

He relaxed when he saw who it was. "Kenji," Altair said with a sigh of relief.

A relatively tall young man with a slight muscular build walked toward Altair. He had black spiky hair, and a dark red slim tracksuit jacket on. He began to slowly unzip it as he walked up to Altair.

"I knew it was gonna be hot, but man. What kind of weather do we get around here these days?" Kenji said as he fully unzipped his tracksuit. "So damn hot."

"Look, dude, if you feel hot just take off that jacket. No one's forcing you to wear that," Altair said. "I mean look at me, I feel great." Altair giggled a little.

Kenji mocked his giggle and said, "Yeah, I'm looking at ya Al. You look so lame. So simple, with those simple-ass clothes. C'mon bro. Get with the picture."

Altair then smiled and said, "Trust me, if I was super athletic and had sweet muscles I'd understand you. It must be nice to show off, right?"

Kenji immediately changed his normal demeanour and became more enraged. He then viciously ran up to Altair and stared him in the eye.

"You wanna go Altair? I won't hold back," Kenji said as he rolled up his sleeves.

Kenji had a serious glint in his black eyes, almost as if he was about to maliciously take action. He stared into Altair's eyes, which curiously peered into Kenji's glare. Kenji balled his fists and tightened it more as he stared venomously at Altair. Then, after a few seconds of silence, the two of them broke into rambunctious laughter and fell to the grassy ground.

After a few minutes, Kenji and Altair started to glance at the forest in silence. Finally, Kenji spoke.

"So what are you gonna tell your mom?"

"Hm… I don't really know.." Altair stared at the sunny sky.

Kenji then followed his stare. "Look, man," he started to say. "You gotta tell her sometime. You can't stall forever."

Kenji then chuckled as he laid his head back and enjoyed the afternoon heat.

"It must suck to have parents Al. Always pestering you, forcing you to do what they want. I'm so glad I don't have to deal with that."

Altair did not break his long glance from the sky. "Man, I sure do envy you. Being a free man, learning to be independent."

Kenji then looked back at Altair, and said, "Y'know, it wasn't too long ago when we both were the same."

Mom. Dad. Parents. Most people have fond memories of such people in their lives. The caregivers for children who provide support, encouragement, and help enable a child to fully fulfill developmental tasks. These can range from many things, but the most important goal of any parent is let their child become an independent person in society over time. Whether it be learning to feed yourself, or first wiping your ass, parents are the ones who help you develop these skills by showing off their own exemplary lives.

It is an unfortunate thing for one to grow up without parents. Without them, a certain element of life unknowingly disappears in a child's life. That element is very versatile, but more often than not emotional support and love are two of the biggest things that go missing in the absence of parents. This can lead to verydetrimentall irreversible effects toward's a child's growth. Without any kind of love or emotional support, positive traits can be very hard to acquire. Being thrown into the world with no parental guidance can more often than not set children up for failure, as they may grow accustomed to having a more negative perception about the world.

Altair finally broke his glance and looked at Kenji in envy. He knew that they both had many similarities, despite the behavioral and physical differences they both have. Both of them never had parents, and so growing up proved to be more of a challenge for both of them.

However, Altair saw himself as inferior. Inferior to his friend, for he had shown more independence and maturity. He had always seen it in Kenji, in the way he excelled at sports and academics. Being the smartest and most athletically student in his entire school alone proved impressive for many of the students and faculty at Lunos Prep, but there was more to him than that. There was something very charming about his astuteness. Perhaps it was his handsome looks many girls saw in him? Or the bad-boy attitude he always showcased in public? Regardless, there had been something so different between Kenji and Altair, and to this day Altair could not put his finger on what exactly that was.

"Kenji we still are the same. What do you mean?"

"Don't play dumb with me man," Kenji said as he rested his head on the grass and stared at the sky.

Altair knew in his heart deep down they both still were more similar than different. Even if he was adopted a few years ago, they still had grown up for the majority of their life with nothing but loneliness.

As Altair stared back at the clouds, he could remember the first time he met Kenji. Nine years ago, when he was just turning six, he met him. He seemed so cold and desolate, and didn't have any friends. Altair always noticed how alone he was, staring at the endless trees of the forest.

It was still hard to believe they became close friends. They had opposing behaviors, yet they somehow reached common ground and enjoyed each other's company. Perhaps it truly was their shared loneliness that helped make them more sociable.

Altair always cherished how lucky he was to have a friend like Kenji. He looked up to him, and wanted to be like him when he got older. Being a year younger than Kenji, Altair accepted how dominant he was towards their friendship. He often let Kenji help decide matters for him, since he felt very inadequate and unsure of his own capabilities.

After years of being in the same school, Altair concluded he could never measure up to Kenji. Moreover, he could not ever even _hope_ of even being compared to him. Especially after failing his last exam, Altair felt finished and was ready to get kicked out of school.

As both boys kept a long glance at the sky, they heard a voice.

"Altair."

Kenji and Altair got up and turned. A man with a black cap and a small bag wrapped around his shoulder waved a small slip of paper in his hand. Altair did not know who he was, but was aware he was apart of the government.

"You are to report to the High Council," he said as he passed the paper to Altair. As Altair read it, the man looked over to Kenji. "Mr. Fudo, congratulations on being valedictorian."

Kenji glanced at him unemotionally, and then thanked him. Meanwhile, Altair looked back at the man puzzled.

"What does the High Council want with me?" Altair asked.

The man shrugged. "I wouldn't know, I'm just a delivery man."

Altair then followed the man with the black cap back to the village. So many questions ran rampant in Altair's mind, and the more he thought about them the more he felt perplexed.

As Altair took one more long glance at his place of sanctity where he spent most of his time, he saw Kenji wave at Altair. Then, he slyly smiled and took his right hand and opened it up. The palm of his right hand started to set ablaze, and he positioned his opened palm towards the grass where they were just sitting. His smile grew more devilish as the fire on his palm grew.

Altair silently shook his head and tried to telepathically tell Kenji, "DON'T DO THAT!"

Unfortunately, telepathy is not something Altair has, nor does anyone in the world for that matter. Still, Altair desperately tried to communicate nonverbally by giving Kenji angry looks.

Eventually, Altair's pleading face got through to him, and he instantly dissipated the blazing fire from his hand. He then laughed as he saw Altair calm down.

"Just a joke bro, chill." Kenji said.

Altair did a fake laugh, and then proceeded to walk into the village towards the High Council.


	2. Disbelief

"Altair Uwohali. Do you know why you are here?"

Altair did not make good eye contact with any of the High Council. He purposely stared at the wall directly in front of him and did not even try to notice their old and wrinkled faces pressing into his eyes.

"Great what do these geezers want," Altair thought to himself. "Is this about me failing..?"

As Altair slowly started to stare at them, he instantly felt the hard stare of each and every one of the elders. It was pointless to escape the glare, as he slowly backed away to the centre of the room.

Finally one of the elders spoke. "The main reason we have brought you here today is that it has come to our attention that you are not doing well in school."

There. He had it on the nose. Altair shrugged and looked down.

"I-I know, in fact, today I did not have a good day with this test-"

"Besides your academics, there is a far more pressing issue at hand," another elder chimed in. "You have not been able to prove that you are adequate enough for school in general. Therefore, we unanimously deem it unwise for you to attend school anymore."

Altair stood with a look of shock. His eyes widened as sweat slowly dripped from his hair.

"I can't attend school? B-but why?" Altair asked nervously.

One of the elders straightened his chair. Then he calmly clasped his hands and looked straight at Altair.

"Isn't it obvious? You cannot use any form of Astral Strength."

From that sentence alone, Altair suddenly stopped sweating and felt a slight chill in the small government building he was in. He could feel all the kids and teachers prying into the room and trying to eavesdrop on his revealed failures, even if they weren't actually there. The last two words the elder said to Altair made him twitch a little as if he was getting poked every few seconds by a sharp object.

"As you may or may not know, this village strives on the usage of this sacred energy. Astral Strength is what has differentiated our village across other nations and regions alike, and we must educate our villagers to properly use their abilities at the ripe time," The same elder said as if reciting it from an ancient text. He then narrowed his gaze at Altair and continued. "But that ripe time has already passed. You are fifteen-years-old and you still have not awakened any kind of Astral Strength abilities. Therefore, it would be useless for a commoner like you to continue attending a fine institution such as Lunos Preparatory School."

The elder paused and could see Altair saddened by his speech. Altair then retorted, "You never know sir. Maybe I'm some kind of exception, or I just need more time-"

"The High Council has made their decision Altair. You are unfit to attend since you are not an Astral User. Therefore, we will not permit you to attend school anymore. Instead, we insist you get involved in more remedial labour. Perhaps you could become a merchant."

To Altair, this was a death sentence. More than the way Mrs Jones reported his exam score. This is because while Altair may not have been the brightest, he loved to go to school. He could learn as much as he wanted to, and never feared to fail. In fact, one might even say Altair loved to fail. It let him learn even more, and study harder in order to gain more understanding of the subject matter at hand. Whether it had been learning astronomical physics, or how his ancestors lived, Altair loved it all. Even if it was hard, the fact that he had the opportunity to learn about the world was what excited him to keep attending school. Even if he was failing, it never truly bothered Altair. It bothered everyone around him and made them want to ridicule Altair. It bothered everyone except him.

Altair found it very difficult to convey his emotion. He stood there, before the council, with such sadness and regret, that he could not make out words. He tried forming sentences but did not know what to say at first.

"Please…. Please don't kick me out. I have fun attending, I just want to learn." Altair sadly put his head down.

"Mr Uwohali, we do not run school for fun. We made it so that the people who are worthy of attending this fine institution prosper and develop into functional human beings who can truly make a difference in the world. You can't do any of that, because you do not possess any Astral Strength. On top of that, you have poor grades and have no leadership roles in anything you do. No one even knows OR cares about what you do because you have nothing. Do you understand the predicament you are in?"

A long silence swept into the room. The daylight had started to die down, and the room became darker. Altair stood there in disbelief as he felt like his life was over.

Finally, he looked up. "How much time do I have left sir?'

The elder shook his head. "You're done, you can no longer attend school. We will go over with Celesta what options you have. They are fairly limited though since you are not capable of much."

Mom. Altair flinched when he heard her name. What would she say, how would she respond? Would she die from shock? He did not want her to die. He figured he would be able to at least keep the news away from her for a while, but now that the elders were going to intervene and talk to her in private, he knew he had no hope. She was going to find out her son failed out of school.

"Well then, I believe we are done here." Several elders started to organize papers into folders and bundled them all up. As Altair stood there fazed and shocked, one of the elders walked up and handed Altair an envelope. "Here boy, give this to Celesta."

Altair took the envelope slowly and walked out of the building. His mind could not process what just happened as he walked through the gorgeous village. He couldn't admire the small beautiful cascading waterfalls or the well built sap-green trees that stood up near many of the houses. Altair gripped the envelope tightly and gritted his teeth as he kept on walking back to his house. Suddenly, something snapped him out of his trance.

"Hey, Altair."

Altair looked to his left slowly and saw a burly man in his thirties walk up to him. He instantly felt tranquil after he quickly glanced at his bearded face, but had trouble making out words to him.

The man looked confused.

"What's the matter?" He saw the envelope in Altair's hands.

"I… Apollo I can't attend classes anymore."

"What?" Apollo took the envelope and pulled out the contents. He thoroughly looked at each piece of paper, and then Altair explained everything that happened.

"Altair, this is horrible…. How could they do this?" Apollo said in shock.

Altair looked at him sadly.

"I guess I'm just not fit. They were right, I can't get good grades. I can't even use Astral Strength. Everyone else there can do it, in some way. I just can't do it. I can't do anything.."

Apollo looked at Altair with a serious expression.

"Altair, these elders don't know crap. That's ridiculous, they kickin' you out. I don't understand why they want to differentiate so much between the Users and normal folk like us. If you ask me, this is just a whole bunch of nonsense. Besides, you're the hardest workin' kid I've ever seen in this village."

"Apollo, I wish I could've manifested some powers. You know, at least I could have like gotten a simple ability, like enhanced reflexes, or like more stamina. Kinda like those soccer players. Maybe not something cool like Kenji's pyrokinesis, but man I wish I had SOMETHING. It would be so cool if I could just have some kind of power then I would fit in more. I don't wanna be a merchant. Man, that would be kinda lame. No offence to merchants of course. But after all the effort I put in, it would be kinda sad."

Apollo shrugged his shoulders. "You could say you were lucky to make it this far. I mean look at me. I never even got to attend Lunos Prep, they put me in as a house builder from the start. Ever since I was a wee little guy I was always put into construction. Beats me why the government is the way it is.."

Altair sighed. "Oh well. I guess I gotta tell mom."

Before Altair awkwardly walked away, Apollo placed his hand on Altair's left shoulder.

"Altair, don't worry. Don't let this bother you. If I was anywhere high in the government, I'd let any kid stay in that darn school. I hate how selective they are, it's bullcrap!"

Apollo started to walk away but then added, "If you need anything Altair let me know. I'll be near the construction site."

When it came to Apollo, Altair revered him immensely. Come to think of it, Apollo was the only adult that connected to Altair. Besides his mother.

Growing up, Altair never had a father. Nor did he have a mother. It was only until recently when he was adopted, but before that, he had no one. Or so he thought.

Altair to this day never forgot what Apollo did for him when he was little. He could never forget the way he dealt with his bullies, or when he got Altair out of a toilet he was shoved into. When no one else had paid attention to him, it was Apollo who was there for him. Of course, that isn't to say that everyone was downright mean to Altair. But, if there was anyone he could talk to, anyone he could depend on, it was Apollo.

The idea of the word "father" was very foreign to Altair. Even after getting adopted, he still did not have a father. His adopted mother, Celesta, was single. So, he still felt like he was missing something with his new guardian. Regardless of getting adopted, he never once stopped thinking about how much Apollo did for him.

"I wish Apollo was my dad," Altair whimpered as he walked to his house. "He may as well be, he's the only adult I like to be around."

As Altair made it to the generic brown-bricked house, he opened the door and slowly walked in. A blonde woman in her late forties looked over at Altair as she started preparing food.

"Why are you home so late Altair, what's-"

Suddenly she saw Altair's face and became silent. He pursed his lips and placed the now opened envelope on the table.

"I'm not hungry, I think I'll sleep early." Altair walked up the stairs and did not mention another word to his mom as he went to his room.

Celesta looked up at the stairs puzzled. Meanwhile, Altair closed his eyes and let warm tears slowly roll down his face. The number of events that took place that day was far too much for him to handle, and he immediately fell asleep out of exhaustion.

"No more school for me.." Altair silently whispered as he felt his body become more absorbed in the soft bed. "No more fun."


	3. Beginning of the Nightmare

Sunshine poured into Altair's room. His eyelids slowly opened, and he could feel the hardened sand stained on the slits of his eyes. Annoyed, Altair walked over to the bathroom to wash his face. It was only when he started brushing his teeth did he remember the events of the past day, where nearly everything in his life had collapsed. After Altair looked at the mirror one last time, he picked up his groggy self and slowly walked downstairs. As he arrived to eat what he perceived as breakfast, he saw Celesta eyeing him down.

Altair avoided eye contact, but this didn't stop Celesta from speaking. "Altair, it's late afternoon."

"Is it really?" Altair muttered.

Celesta then took out the envelope and placed it on the table as Altair started to eat through his omelette. Altair did not react at all.

"I know you tried your hardest. You really did. But I guess we both should have realized this wasn't going to work out for you. You're just not fit to be in school, those other kids are different."

Altair continued to ignore her and focus on his brunch instead.

Celesta then sighed. "School isn't easy. I myself made it through easily and got a job with the government, but I know it wasn't the same for many. Success really does depend on the individual's own skills. Still," she said as she glanced pitifully at Altair. "I expected more out of you."

Altair placed his glass of water hard on the table. He still remained silent and refused to give Celesta any attention.

Then Celesta continued. "Look at your childhood friend, Kenji. He's only a year older, but he's been able to become top of the school and even awaken his Astral Strength at a young age. Many of the faculty agree that he might just turn out to be one of the strongest Astral Users in our village. Who knows what he will decide to do, he can have any occupation he wants since he's been so successful in school. Meanwhile, you've repeatedly been failing and have no powers."

It was then Altair finally raised his eye level and stared directly into Celesta's eyes.

"How does this comparison lecture help exactly?"

"I'm just trying to show you that he's successful and you are very behind."

Altair then got out of his chair.

"And what does it mean to be successful anyways?" Altair then pushed in his chair and stared back at Celesta. "What gives you, no, those old guys the right to determine if I'm successful or not? What if I enjoy school, and am fine with the measly grades I'm getting? I'm learning, isn't that what's important? Why kick me out of the entire school?!"

Celesta looked sternly at him.

"Now hold on just a second young man-"

"I don't get why everyone has so many issues with me. Why can't I do just do whatever I want?"

Celesta angrily raised the envelope and pointed it at Altair.

"It's because you're not capable of doing anything. The elders gave you a chance to be in that selective school, and you proved you could not handle it. Society deemed you unfit to succeed, so now you have to become something else."

As Altair stared at her with soft anger, she continued.

"Or if you don't want to do that, you can become a beggar. Live on the streets like you were a few years back."

Altair clenched his fist as he tried to hold in his anger. "Beggar? What is she talking about?!" Altair thought.

He then started to convert his thoughts to words. "I wasn't a beggar Celesta. I just wanted to live with a parent. I hated being alone."

Before Celesta could retract any of her words, Altair walked out of the house. In a fit of rage, he closed the door with all the strength he could muster up, which resulted in a loud thud.

Celesta called out for him to come back, but it was far too late. She then sighed and held her forehead.

"Perhaps I could've chosen my words more carefully," Celesta said remorsefully. "He just needs to see that he can't live his fantasies in the real world. How long will it take for him to grasp this.."

As Altair walked away from his house, he could see in the distance the school he once attended. He saw many kids laugh and talk as they entered the brown-bricked building, that was filled with the many wonders of education he once had. How he wished he could have it all back.

Altair stopped staring and picked up his pace. What kind of mom was she? Beggar? What the hell did she mean by that? He then started to vividly recall the moment he first met her.

At the time, Altair had been used to living on his own. He had no one and didn't need anyone. But, he secretly felt lonely. After a request from the government, he was assigned to Celesta for adoption.

Altair had a hard time figuring out if he really loved her, as any child would. Given the awkward period in time he lived with her, the idea of the word "love" was still very distant. He did not know what to think of his relationship with her. Was he his mother? By legal documentation yes. But….

He knew she wasn't his real mother. Throughout his life, he always wanted to know who his biological parents were. But no one knew. Not even the elders. No past medical records or even any legal documents of their known lives was anywhere in the village. It came to the point where he always came to a dead end in his research, and so he eventually gave up looking for his parents.

"Maybe Kenji's right, who needs parents anyways.." Altair thought as he headed back to the outside of the forest. Before he got there, something poked him on his back. He turned around and gasped.

Behind him was a girl with long brown hair. She had a backpack around her shoulders and wore a short blue dress. She warmly smiled. "Hey there Altair."

Altair's cheeks immediately turned a bright red. "L-l-luna?"

What did she want? She was so pretty and excelled in school. Everyone knew her, she was so popular. Why was she even talking to him..

Many thoughts were all over Altair's mind and he could not muster up any more words. He had terrible eye contact, and could not diminish any of the redness from his cheeks.

"Um... Um…. Hi Luna.."

Luna looked at him curiously. "Why aren't you at school today?"

Altair suddenly stopped fidgeting his body. He remained still, and then finally looked up.

"Yeah, I um got kicked out. For good. Courtesy of the High Council. So yeah," Altair awkwardly replied.

She then held her backpack and looked at him in pity. Altair still had a hard time believing what was happening right now. Why was she so interested in talking to him?

Luna finally spoke. "You know Altair, things may not look great right now. But you can't give up. It's not the end of the world, you never know what opportunities will come up your alley."

Altair stared in disbelief. "I just lost a lot of opportunities. N-now I have to become a merchant, and I don't want to."

"Trust me. I can't imagine how hard it must be to lose so much just like that. But you have to trust me. I believe something will come your way. You just can't give up trying."

Luna paused, and then added, "Try appealing to the High Council again, and get some more tutoring. If you can get better grades, or show them you know the content well, then maybe they might let you back in."

Altair then argued, "Even if I got higher grades, I still can't use Astral Strength like the rest of you guys."

A silence started to grow between the two of them. Luna stared at him with surprise.

"You can't? Really?"

Altair already felt the prejudice from her. He always could feel it off of his classmates, but he purposely chose to ignore it. What was the point of letting those kinds of things hurt? Altair figured it was best to ignore, but he could only maintain that act for so long. He always knew there was a reason why every other kid in school fit in more. They had Astral Powers, and manifested these skills at a young age. Altair never had a chance of competing with any of them, much less being compared to them, because he had himself no Astral Powers. The High Council for unknown reasons let Altair attend for many years. But now, these lacking traits caught up with him. Combined with his less than stellar grades, it was no wonder he was kicked out. And he knew this. It was until this moment when he kept on denying it. Right then and there, Luna's words woke something inside him. His deepest fears were realized, and he no longer wanted to explore them.

"Yeah. I can't. You know, it's probably for the best that I shouldn't be here. I don't belong here," he said as he hurriedly walked away. Luna looked worriedly in his direction as he slowly disappeared from the view.

As Altair finally made it to his usual sight-seeing area of the forest, he sat down. He observed the forest again, and thoughts started to emerge inside him. "Why can't I be more? Why am I so lame?"

Altair lay there for hours, observing the wildlife of Lunos Forest through an invisible wall. He knew no matter what, he would never be able to cross that wall, and always be trapped in the village. Not that the village was a horrible place to live. It was a peaceful place, one that had blessed him a healthy life. He, however, had been stripped of so many choices in his life once he was kicked out of school. Without graduating from Lunos Prep, he knew he'd have a difficult time finding a well enough livelihood to support himself. At the same time, he felt conflicted about the entire ordeal. What was wrong with him going to school? So what if he couldn't manifest powers, what was the big deal? Why was the system like this?

The negative thoughts circulating in Altair's mind made him frustrated as he tried to enjoy the forest's beauty. His fruitless attempts to ignore reality bothered him immensely since he could not stop thinking about his situation. But what could he do? He couldn't study whatever he wanted. By the end of the day, he would be assigned his new work area, probably as a merchant. Or maybe in a factory. Either way, he had nothing in his control. He was done.

Or was he? Altair pondered for what seemed an eternity to him. He lay there, scratching his head. Would things really be so bad?

"If I get to be a merchant," Altair contemplated. "That means I… Wait, I get to go outside the village!" He suddenly fist bumped the air. The sheer idea of leaving the village was strictly forbidden for most people, but there was an exception. And being a merchant granted that exception.

"Maybe things won't be too bad," Altair gleefully smiled. "I may not be able to learn and have fun in school anymore, but exploring the world would be kinda cool!"

He optimistically brightened his face and went back to observing the conker-brown forest's habitat. Then, without realizing it, he fell asleep under the comfort of the sun's blazing rays.

BOOM! Altair woke up. He rubbed his eyes and looked up at the sky. The sun was lower in the sky until the trees stood almost as black statues silhouetted against the orange-reddish darkened sky. The shadows were slowly melting away in the darkness of the oncoming night.

"Geez, I went to sleep again? I'm not on medications or anything, so why am I so tired-" Altair started to say but then stopped himself.

He turned around towards the village and saw huge fires. Everywhere. There were growing fires around the school, and even on the majority of the government buildings. Altair squinted and could see even the High Council offices were engulfed by flames.

Altair stood up, and stared at the village confoundedly, detached from reality. He couldn't understand what he was seeing. The fires from the village started to blend in with orange and red colours of the sky, and it had appeared to be very artistic to him. If he had any kind of creativeness in the crafts, he certainly would have painted this.

A man burst out of his house with a child in his arms. He had a devastating look in his eyes as if someone was about to kill him. Ironically, a man in green cloth and silver armour came out of the house and pointed a black object at the man. It had a tubular design and was made of what appeared to be a combination of metal and plastic. The armoured man pulled the trigger of the object, and a skin-slapping explosion erupted. Altair's eardrums were in pain instantly, and the man and the child both fell down and stopped moving. The armoured man went back inside the house and proceeded to create the same deafening sounds.

Altair finally started to feel the impact of the destructive imagery he was experiencing. His eyes widened, he could feel nothing in his throat as he shrieked loudly.


End file.
